Camp Everstar
by PrennCooder
Summary: Welcoming high schoolers and middle schoolers who are looking for training to become better fighters and defenders, Camp Everstar is filled with secrets! Why do the campers look so similar? Camp Everstar is created and maintained by Clockwork himself. Currently accepting YOUR DP next-generation OCs! Cover by CartoonFreakshow
1. Form and Intro

**Here is the Form for you to fill out for your character**

**Though I may decline most submissions now as the story is getting full. So submit them at your own risk :3**

**Credits for which character belongs to whom will be given at the end of the story. So, all characters belong to their respective owners. That list is too long to list now. **

**Form (c) PrennCooder**

**Danny Phantom (c) Butch Hartman. I do not own Danny Phantom!**

* * *

Name:

Nickname/halfa name (if applies):

Age (11-17 only):

Species (with percent. Human? Ghost? Electric?):

Powers & power color:

Skin color:

Hair color:

Eye color:

Personality traits:

Things they would never do:

Likes:

Dislikes:

Strengths/skills/hobbies:

Flaws/weaknesses/things they are bad at:

Clothing & style:

Father: Danny Fenton/Phantom

Mother:

Siblings:

Biography:

Relationship to/thinks of Aiden:

Relationship to/thinks of Kezet:

Relationship to/thinks of Taylor:

Relationship to/thinks of Leo:

Relationship to/thinks of Lola:

Relationship to/thinks of Riffy:

Relationship to/thinks of Marisol:

Relationship to/thinks of Livia:

* * *

**Rules:**

**You must have a bio... someplace... somewhere... even if it is not here, link me to it over a PM or something. You don't have to use THIS form above, but there MUST be one!**

**All submissions must be the biological son/daughter of Danny Phantom**

**Review!**

**Fill out everything that you can on the form. If a question does not apply, DELETE IT! :3**

**No Sues**

**No yaoi/yuri/slash-related things D: that's gross**

**Nothing mature or explicit, again, gross D:**

**You must have an account on FF or DA (or know me in person) to have your submission form accepted, because otherwise, I will have no way to contact you! Sorry I didn't include this in the rules originally, but it's the truth!**

**Relationships MUST be filled out. Don't just put a question mark or unknown or something like that... The story's right here, and my characters' personalities are all very evident**

**Also, please follow me on DeviantArt. I'm called PrennCooder there too. This isn't a rule, but…I'm always looking to make new friends and I'd love to have new watchers even if you're a totally random person XD Plus, I've improved a lot on my drawing skills since my last time on this site. **


	2. Chapter 1

**Hey here's chapter 1! Finally, it's up!**

**I'm just about to leave on a week long vacation to a wonderful Christian camp far away 3 so there will not be story updates for awhile. But finally I'm back to updating stuff here; it's been awhile, right?**

**Too long haha**

**Enjoy~**

* * *

Chapter 1

It's been said before and it'll be said again—mothers have a special duty. Especially when she's the wife of Danny Fenton, who is also known by now as the world-famous super hero, Danny Phantom. It was this afternoon that Cecelia Fenton found out just how important it was for her to be a mother.

A little green envelope flew in through the front door and landed on the tile floor. Taylor Fenton was running through the rooms chasing Marisol who had broken something. The older sister slipped on the letter and fell flat on her back. "Ohhh." Taylor moaned sickly.

"Ha ha!" Marisol chortled and ran off.

"I'll get you!" Taylor threatened, barely able to sit up much less run. She pulled out the letter from underneath her back and examined it. "Huh. That's really odd." She muttered as she was unable to open it. Then she saw the address. "Mom! You've got a letter!" Taylor called as she stood slowly to her feet.

Cecelia lightly ran down the steps. "Oh." She had seen this kind of envelope and odd seal before. Taylor was still standing there. Cecelia opened the envelope.

"Mrs. Fenton, your children Aiden, Taylor, Leonard, and Marisol, have been invited as guests to Camp Everstar! There is no initial cost for attending, however if your child would like to make additional purchases while at camp, please make sure they carry some money with them. The course lasts ten days, not counting travel time. A bus will be dispatched on Sunday, August 4th, to pick up your child. Your child will return to you on Tuesday, August 15th. Pack light! Please refer to the brochure for further details. Hope to see your children there. Sincerely, the Time Master." It was made complete with Clockwork's seal, so Cecelia trusted it.

A green brochure slid out, and Cecelia read it too. It referred to the camp being particularly for children of Danny. "Well that's oddly specific." Cecelia muttered aloud, since there were only four children of Danny…that she knew of. And Danny was never the cheating kind.

"_What_ is?" Taylor gasped, blue eyes widening in excitement. She reached for the letter but Cecelia pulled it away just in time. "Let me see!"

The woman shook her head slowly. She got to the "other realities" part and then the final closing statement was to keep everything that happens during camp a secret from Danny, since it would involve his children from other realities. "Well." Cecelia looked directly at Taylor. "It appears you kids have all been invited to a ten-day long camp…no charge."

Taylor squealed. "Oh my gosh!"

"Go tell your brothers and sister." Cecelia said. "Quickly now." She stuffed the envelope and folded the brochure into her shorts pocket.

Taylor skipped through the house, "Marisol! Marisol! We're going to camp!" Taylor ran into the living room and shook Aiden's shoulder. "Aiden! We're going to camp!"

The seventeen-year-old growled. He was grumpy, as always, but that streak was highlighted whenever one of his siblings came around to bug him.

Taylor jolted upstairs. "Leo! _Leo_!" She flung her twin brother's door wide open.

Leo was at his computer, leaning on one arm and browsing pictures of crop circles on the internet. Taylor startled him and he jumped.

"Guess what, bro? We're going to camp! Can you believe it? A free camp! Ten days of fun, far, far away!"

Leo grinned and laughed slightly as he pushed the messy brown hair strands out of his face. "Well this aughta be good!"

Taylor laughed and ran all the way outside where her dad was cleaning the barbecue. "Dad! DAD!"

Danny's head popped up. "What is it, Taylor? I'm kind of busy right now…"

Taylor had THE WIDEST grin upon her face. "I'm goin' ta camp!" She absent-mindedly started imitating one of the high school cheer routines.

"Camp?" Danny questioned.

"Yeah, it's going to be totally fun."

"Okay." Danny smiled. "If you say so." At that, he resumed his work.

Taylor gasped. "Ohhhh…I've gotta pack!" She ran into the closet and pulled out a bright pink suitcase. She hauled it upstairs and into her bedroom. She spent all of dinnertime packing whilst the rest of her family was gathered downstairs for dinner.

Marisol was a little bit jealous that her older sister had found out about the camp thing first, and was about to confront this. "Mom?"

"Yah?"

"Tell me more about this camp thing…please."

Leo looked up too; his attention was caught.

Aiden pretended to be uninterested, but his parents could both tell that was fake.

"Well by the looks of it, you're going to be in Pyxis cabin with the other middle school girls, Marisol. Leo, you will be in Virgo cabin." Cecelia explained, suddenly seeming like an expert on this. "And Aiden, you'll be in Orion cabin."

Everyone stared at the oldest Fenton son, including Danny. "What?" Aiden retorted. "You're all assuming I'm going and I haven't even given you an answer yet! I don't know anything about it. You just sprung this on me, what, two hours ago? I haven't even had time to think!"

Marisol coughed. "Ego much?"

Aiden gave her a dirty look, then continued. "Anyways, it's probably something geared towards powers anyways, and in case you have forgotten…I DON'T HAVE POWERS."

"We haven't forgotten, Aiden." Danny stated with surety. "So don't worry."

"The brochure said it doesn't matter if you have powers or not." Cecelia mentioned.

Aiden frowned. "Let me see this…brochure."

"Yeah, and I wanna see it after him!" Marisol insisted.

Cecelia sighed. "I was instructed not to show it to you. You'll receive your own one on the bus, it says."

Aiden blew a raspberry. "Well that's just great!"

"Guess you'll just have to take a chance, then." Leo said quietly.

Aiden looked at his brother for a second, then back down at his food. "Whatever."

After dinner was over, Leo and Marisol quickly put their plates in the sink and went upstairs to their rooms to start packing.

Marisol walked in to the bedroom she and Taylor now shared. "Whoa, you're STILL packing?"

Taylor laughed. "Well duh, I'm a teenage girl! It's something you'll understand when you get older, I'm sure."

Marisol had just turned twelve and was going to be going into the seventh grade. She had her purple suitcase in hand and began to stuff it full of clothes and various lotions and hair products that she'd need. Marisol was still messy in a childish way, but Taylor was neat as a pin. "Taylor! Can I use your flatiron when we're there?"

Taylor chuckled. "Like…_no way_. I probably won't even let my roomies use it."

Marisol frowned.

"I can already picture it, though—me and my whole cabin will be like…_BFFs_!"

Leo was packing his blue suitcase rather quietly when Aiden came in. "Hey." Leo tried to be friendly, but it was no use with his grumpy older brother.

Aiden didn't even reply. He had his green suitcase in hand, but he didn't appear to be packing it. He went straight to bed, actually.

Leo dimmed the lights in the room and continued packing silently. He was debating in his mind whether it would be a nice gesture to pack Aiden's bags for him. But Aiden might get mad. Leo decided to take a risk, go ahead, and do it.

It was not every day that a family found themselves standing outside of their house, all waiting for a red school bus. Danny and Cecelia were sitting on the grass, waiting to see their kids off. Danny was dressed in swim trunks and a muscle shirt and Cecelia in jean shorts and a bikini top. While the kids were away, they were going to the beach to hang out with old high school buddies like Tucker, Valerie, Dash, and Paulina.

Aiden, Taylor, Leo, and Marisol were all lined up by the curb, holding their suitcases and bags, and sweating like mad. Aiden set down his luggage and took off his shirt. Taylor was happy because she wore a spaghetti strap tank top. Leo rolled up his sleeves, and Marisol started fanning herself. The sun scorched their backs.

Danny and Cecelia pointed up to the sky where out of a cloud there came a little red object. "There's your ride." Cecelia mentioned.

Taylor and Leo started to jump up and down with excitement. Marisol let out a small squeal, but tried to hide it.

The red bus got closer.

" , they borrowed that from Komoto Preparatory School." Cecelia stated. "Cuz that school I used to work at, it had red flying busses that are…bigger on the inside."

"Wicked cool." Leo whispered to himself in awe.

The bus landed right in front of the house and the doors flung wide open. Taylor and Leo had no idea of what to expect. They looked at each other, grinned, and raced to see who would get onboard first. Taylor beat him to it, and stepped on board, taking a deep breath in.

She gasped in awe, because the bus truly was BIGGER. She understood what her mother meant! This thing, when, full, would easily seat a hundred or more people! But it was rather empty now, in comparison to its maximum. Only about ten other campers were onboard as of yet.

Taylor walked past the people, briefly studying them to try and figure out what kind of person they were. She passed the punk goth group, who all looked the same. Then she passed these losers, which all had their heads down and were talking quietly. Then she passed the occasional shy kid sitting alone. Gosh, none of these people really looked like the kind Taylor would hang around! She didn't get a look at them all, but was still disappointed. She went back to the front and took a seat there.

Leo didn't get a good look at many of the people. He did however pass this really mean looking chick with a lot of piercings and this other guy with a streak of silvery gray in his hair. Leo thought they were all really weird, so he picked a seat by himself as well, although more towards the middle of the bus.

Marisol sat in the middle area as well, but away from her brother. She loved him and all, but being associated with a nerd might not bode well for the athlete image she was trying to create.

Aiden, on the other hand, wanted to sit near the back where he thought no one would bother him. He was a wrong, of course. Aiden would always be wrong, or so it seemed, especially when he thought he was right. At the bus's next stop, a Hispanic girl about Aiden's age or even a few months older, stepped on, holding the hand of a girl presumed to be her little sister. The younger girl was an albino and blind, and so she needed someone to guide her.

The older sister sat across from Aiden. "Hi, I'm Brandi, and this is my little sister, Anette. My other sister and our brother seem to have slipped away, but oh well."

Aiden nodded. He didn't like meeting new people unless they were talented athletes or brainiacs who could help him get better grades. "Aiden." He stated neutrally. He wanted to find a new seat as fast as he could, though. This Brandi person reeked of the same perfume that Paulina Baxter wore.

Taylor stuffed her suitcases underneath her seat where there was a space. It was as if this bus was specially designed for campers. The girl pulled out her red iPod and headphones. Just as a song started to play, someone popped up from behind her.

"Hi! I'm Abby!"

Taylor flinched and accidentally flung her iPod underneath the seats in front of her, sighing curtly, she reached for it, but Abby beat her to it.

"I've got it." Abby got up. "Here." She handed it to Taylor. "Say, what's your name?"

"Taylor." She replied, scooting over for Abby to have a seat.

Abby moved her suitcases under her new seat.

"How come I didn't see you before?"

"Oh, I was asleep. We were the first ones on the bus, and it was a little boring without having some people to talk to."

"We?"

"Me and my brothers, Jack and Christopher. They're around here somewhere…" Abby turned her head. "I'm not seeing them at the moment, but they're bound to pop up somewhere, ya know, when you least want them to."

Taylor rolled her eyes. "Brothers…"

"I KNOW!"

The two of them laughed.

"Hey!" Taylor gasped as a teen popped up in the seat in front of them. "You woke me up, Abby!"

"Taylor, meet Jack. We look nothing like, but we're twins…somehow."

Jack nodded to Taylor.

"No way, I'm a twin too! I'd introduce you to Leo, but I don't see him around."

"Ah that's okay, I'm sure I'll meet him later." Jack said. "We'll probably end up as roommates, since you look about fourteen too. Go Virgo cabin! Wohoo!" He pumped his fist.

"Yeah he's really weird." Abby whispered to Taylor.

Taylor giggled, "Really? I hadn't noticed. Hey, at least he doesn't believe in aliens like MY twin."

Abby laughed. "Oh, I wouldn't put it past him…"

* * *

**Hey thanks for reading this :3 there will be many more chapters to come and the story is about 30,000 words on my computer already!**

**Remember to...**

**.:Review:.**

**.:Fave:.**

**.:Follow:.**

**And enjoy my story :)**

**Also feel free to message me; I love making new friends!**


	3. Chapter 2

**Well I'm back! Updates will come more often now :)**

**I was away at my camp but now I'm home and getting into writing fanfiction again.**

**I'm also thinking of starting a new book continuing on my first generation stories but opening it up for you guys to submit characters. What do you think?**

* * *

Chapter 2

In another reality, one afternoon while on summer break, Lilin was outside working on the family car. He lived with his single mother, Sam Manson, in a very small house. She had a job, yes, a grueling one. She told Lilin a long time ago that her family used to be filthy rich. She never quite explained how the fortune had been lost, though. Just that it was gone.

Here came that stuck-up Kezet Fenton jogging down the street in the middle of the day, flaunting his nicely-pressed clothes and his varsity tee shirt. Lilin frowned bitterly. He knew that in just a few moments…

"Hello there, Lilin." Kezet greeted cheerfully, despite the negative reaction he always got. "What's up?"

Lilin closed the car. "Nothing." He replied quickly.

"Need any help?"

"No."

"Sheesh. Somebody's in a crabby mood."

"Get off my property."

Kezet retreated and jogged away. He always tried, but he never could get that guy to be anything other than a jerk.

As Lilin began to wash the car, he noticed Vanessa Baxter walk out of her house which was across the street. Lilin waved, but he went unnoticed. She drove away cluelessly in her cute little lime green fiat. Lilin would love to get his hands on that car as much as he would love to get his hands on that girl herself.

Kezet's jog was over. The guy wasn't even winded. He opened the front door of the house and took a whiff of something delicious. He could hear the barbecue frying out back. Kezet's mother was entertaining Tucker and his wife Jazz. The Foley couple was overdressed as always.

Their nine-year-old daughter Celeste was wearing a pink dress that was blindingly bright. She was a chubby child with very large eyes. "Hi cousin Kezet." She walked up to him with her hands tucked behind her back.

"Hello there." Kezet gave her a polite smile and nothing more. That kid was potentially the most annoying one he had ever known. He went upstairs to take a shower, knowing that pretty soon, the rest of his father's friends would be arriving, and he wanted to look good, smell good, and feel good.

Danny threw barbecues like this all the time. He practically invited the entire neighborhood too, because the whole neighborhood was his friend pretty much. He was quite the popular adult. That meant Erulan would be coming. And probably Lilin too, if Danny and Sam were still on speaking terms, that is.

Tekairo heard the doorbell ring. "Cecelia! Erulan! How wonderful to see you guys!" She greeted. "Where's Kibbon?"

"Oh he and his friends went on a little road trip." Cecelia said as Erulan squeezed past her.

"Hey buddy." Erulan gave Kezet, his best friend, a high five. "How are you?"

"I'm okay."

"Still got that pinball machine in your basement?"

"You know it. Let's get down there before Lilin shows up." Kezet smiled. If there was one thing on earth he and Erulan had in common, it was their obscene dislike for Lilin.

Lilin cut across the grass of the front lawn, following his bony, sullen, gothic mother up to the front porch of the pastel-colored Fenton house. "Hello?" Sam knocked on the front door. "I got an invite—"

"Hi!" Tekairo Fenton opened the door and attempted to be friendly even though she and Sam never got along. "Welcome!"

"Yeah, yeah, where's Danny?"

"Um, he's cooking the meal out back." Tekairo chirped.

Lilin scanned the roomful of people for somebody he knew. The smiling faces of Tekairo, Tucker, Jazz, and Cecelia all bothered him.

"Hey!" Called a nasally voice.

Lilin looked down. _Way_ down.

"I remember you! You're that nasty kid who pushed me down the slide two summers ago." Grimaced Celeste.

Lilin frowned. "If I've told you once, I've told you a thousand times—I didn't push you down. You fell."

"Lies."

Lilin rolled his eyes. Over all the cheerful talking from the adults, he could faintly hear some noises coming from the basement. It sounded like some kind of electronic game being played.

Kezet was creaming hyper Erulan at pinball, but that was the norm. The moment they heard some footsteps creeping down the stairs, they both froze. It was him. It was Lilin! And he was looking forlorn as ever with a solemn expression on his face.

"Ahoy there." Erulan waved nervously. "How are you?"

"Decent." Lilin replied, folding his arms.

"Come on." Kezet resumed the game of pinball.

Lilin approached them. For the longest time, he just stood there and watched. And then, out of the blue, he said, "You have a ghost portal down here, don't you?"

Kezet was taken off guard. He was completely paralyzed by his own secrets and worries. Of course the great Danny Phantom wouldn't be himself if he and his household didn't have a portal of their own hidden somewhere. And it was in the basement. Yes, it was always in the basement. The thing was built by Danny's parents for ghost-hunting purposes but Danny rarely used it. Kezet, being only one-quarter ghost, was only ever allowed to see it _once_. To this very day, he had no idea where it was. Just that it was somewhere…out of reach.

"What makes you think we have a portal?" Kezet replied in a voice that was so calm, it surprised even him.

"Oh, pfft, nothing." Lilin shook his head. "I wouldn't put it past you to have a portal and to keep it secret from us all these years."

Kezet gave no reply.

Erulan just looked from one dude to the other. He had some idea what was going on but he didn't know all the little details.

"Hey boys, the barbecue's ready!" A light voice called from upstairs. That could only be one person—Vanessa. She was here too? Now this was a party!

Everyone gathered around the table in the dining room. Gosh, Kezet didn't know where his father got the idea that all of his crazy friends and their kids could get along. Danny passed around hot dogs and hamburgers alike. Lilin braced himself for the embarrassment his vegetarian mother would make.

Erulan and Kezet exchanged a glance that said it all. It was a little twinkling chuckle at Lilin's great misfortune. Lilin frowned.

Vanessa went up to Kezet and smiled. "Heeeey." She greeted with a flirty smile as she took his hand.

Love-struck, he just stared with this puppy dog smile. "H-hey."

Lilin was brimming with jealousy. He took a step forward, ready to punch Kezet, but Erulan held him back.

"We should hang out some time." Vanessa mentioned.

"Yeah!" Kezet cheered. "Got any plans tomorrow?"

She giggled. "Nope. Wanna come over to my place?"

"Totally." Kezet nodded.

"Great! I'll see you then!" She ambled through the crowd again, mingling.

Kezet cheered for himself silently and Erulan gave him a fist bump.

As everyone gathered around the dinner table, Kezet noticed something bright green in his mother's hand. He would have asked her about it, but she was quite preoccupied with entertaining Cecelia, Tucker, and Jazz.

"What is it, Kezet?" Little Celeste wondered, elbowing her older cousin.

"Huh?" Kezet zoned back. "Oh, nothing. Eat your vegetables." After the dinner was over, Kezet made a beeline to his mother. "Mom? What's…that?" He pointed to the envelope.

"Oh! This!" Tekairo stuffed it into her jeans pocket. "You're going to camp! It's free, and it's ten days of FUN. It's constant activity so it should hold your attention! Sounds great, right?"

Kezet shrugged. "Yeah, I guess so." He took a sip of Kool-Aid. "When is it?"

Tekairo giggled. "…Tomorrow…?"

Kezet did a spit take, and it went on the sofa. Without further ado, Kezet took the stairs two at a time and went to the closet to grab his suitcases. By then, everyone had left so he wouldn't be able to tell Vanessa he couldn't meet her tomorrow. But a camp was way more important than a girl, right? He ended up packing all night, so his mother let him sleep until noon.

"I'm so sorry I procrastinated, Kezet. I got the brochure a week in advance, but it just totally slipped my mind." Tekairo fixed her son an apology breakfast.

Kezet ate quietly.

"Well I think it's great you're going to camp, son." Danny mentioned optimistically.

Kezet just looked at him.

"You'll meet tones of new friends. Try to stick to the sporty crowd, though. I don't want you to hang out with the wrong sort if you know what I mean."

Kezet nodded. He gathered up the last of his things, put on his sunglasses and headed outside to wait for the bus. When a red blur came out of the sky and landed in front of the house, Kezet had to admit he was impressed. The bus was the first thing that told him this was no ordinary camp! The doors opened for him. With a suitcase in one hand and a bag in the other, he boarded. He saw a pile of green brochures in a bucket to his right, and he knew he should probably take one, but he didn't have a third arm.

The bus driver, a green ghost with one eye wearing a strange fancy cape, handed one to Kezet and he gripped it with his teeth. "Thanks." Kezet said what he could.

"No problem." The bus driver closed the door.

Kezet sighed through his teeth and looked at the bus which was almost half full. He was too overwhelmed at the moment to notice that the bus was bigger on the inside. He had to manage a sidestep down the aisle as he made his way to an empty seat near the middle of the bus.

Since he was going slow and careful, this one young guy with white hair and blue eyes looked at him kinda funny. "Nice hair." He mentioned.

"Thanks." Kezet said, ridding it off as an insult. "Right back at ya." A lot of people thought Kezet was weird because he had naturally snow white hair and bright green eyes, but this stranger looked as if he was in the same boat. "Wait a second." Kezet backtracked. "Was that a compliment or an insult?"

The kid shrugged. "Neither, I guess. I was just surprised to see someone with white hair just like me."

"Huh. That's funny. Mine's natural, although yours is probably dyed, but still. Cool."

"No…mine's natural too."

"Even better."

"I'm Christopher."

"Kezet." He stated. "So I guess I'll…see you around, huh?"

Christopher nodded.

Kezet took a seat a few rows behind Christopher. In fact the only reason he didn't sit with him was because the kid looked three years younger than him, and Kezet didn't want anybody to get the impression that he was too immature to hang out with guys his own age. Call it pride, if you will, but Kezet cared more about first impressions than he let on. In fact, image meant everything to Kezet.

Meanwhile, Lola waved goodbye to her mother, Cecelia, as she got onboard the red school bus after her older siblings, Juliette and Kobi. Kobi was a bit mentally disabled, so Juliette had to help him find a seat. Juliette sat her brother down with a brochure and slowly explained the concept of this camp to him in simpler terms.

It was Juliette's idea, after all, to bring Kobi despite the fact that he was human and her parents were against sending him to a camp with people with powers who might not know how to react to him. But since Juliette was the oldest of the six kids, her parents trusted her enough to keep Kobi safe.

Following Lola onto the bus were their three younger siblings, Riffy, Sasha, and Livia. Sasha ran ahead. "Wait, you forgot to grab a brochure!" Lola stated. She sighed and took two. Lola did not like feeling like the responsible one, because that sure wasn't her character at all. As she walked down the aisle with a light smile, she was the first to notice that the windows were tinted so that the outside was not easily visible.

The boy named Riffy sighed and shoved the black earbuds and neon green iPod Touch into his pocket. If either of his parents caught him taking those on this trip, they'd probably jump down his throat because he was going there to "learn", supposedly. That, and, the headphones and iPod belonged to his older brother, Kobi, not him. But Kobi was gullible enough to believe Riffy when he said a bird swept down and took the earbuds and iPod away to its nest. "Pshh, too easy." Riffy shook his head as he smirked, remembering that day and being proud of his accomplishment still.

Lola took a seat by herself, and she was lucky there was one. She perused the brochure, unawares of the person who was coming to sit by her until she actually sat down. Lola gasped at the sight of the person next to her. She was pretty, but looked tough, and certainly carried herself like it too. This could be good or bad, but as for which, Lola didn't know yet.

"Hello. I'm Joana, but you can call me Jojo."

Lola managed a smile. "Hey. I'm Lola. I don't have a nickname, but you can make one for me if you like."

Jojo took a look at Lola's clothes. "How about…Pinky?"

Lola laughed. "That works!"

Jojo glanced to her right as an older teenage boy walked past.

"Who's that?"

"Oh he's my older brother Charlie. Going to sit with the jocks, I suppose. But it's fine by me."

Lola's little identical twin sisters, Livia and Sasha, felt quite out of sorts. Most all these other kids were so much older than them. But this girl who looked not _too_ much older than them and also had purple eyes waved her over. "Hey. You look shy." Said the girl as Livia and Sasha put their stuff down.

Sasha smiled up at the stranger. "Eh…" She shrugged.

"No, I'm not shy." Said Livia quietly.

The stranger snapped her fingers. "Well that's a shame. I love shy people!"

Sasha and Livia's eyes widened. "You DO?" They asked in unison.

"Yeah. Because I am SOOO not shy. I get that from my mother I guess!" She laughed. "I'm Mara by the way. No, wait, Marisol. I think I want everyone here to know me by my prettier name."

"I'm Sasha."

Livia smiled. "I'm Livia. And yes, I guess I am shy. I wish I was more like my mother…she was prom queen in her senior year!"

"Awesome!"

* * *

**Please review! It is always helpful and kind ;)**


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Meanwhile, Riffy stood at the front of the bus for the LONGEST time, just reading the brochure. He had little regard for others but didn't mean anything in a bad way, nor did he expect people to take his behavior personally. It's just the way he was.

"Hey buddy." The one-eyed ghost driver got the attention of the thirteen-year-old. "_Buddy_!" He repeated.

"Huh?" Riffy looked up.

"You've gotta find a seat, kid. I've gotta pick up several more kids and you're very much in the way."

"Sorry." Riffy said half-heartedly. He moved on to the first seat he could find was empty, and it was near the front. Riffy was still reading the brochure when the guy next to him poked him.

"Hi there. Are you gonna be in Virgo Cabin?"

"No, Aries." Riffy replied. He normally wouldn't just invite himself into a conversation, but, he had to mention, "I like your whole punk getup. Very cool, very cool indeed."

The teen nodded. "Thanks! I'm Jack."

"Griffin's my name."

Jack made a face.

"I know…that's what everybody thinks. It's the reason I just go by Riffy now."

"Cool. Are you in a band?"

"What? No…" Riffy looked down at his shirt to remind himself what he wore. "I just like a lot of bands. But I hope I can be in one someday."

"So…Jack?" Abby popped up from behind.

Taylor popped up too. They leaned their arms on the seat backs comfortably. "Make a new friend?"

"Taylor, Abby, meet Riffy."

"Hiiii." The girls said in perfect unison.

Jack shivered. "Don't do that! You sound like twins and you haven't even known each other for three hours yet! Abby's MY twin!"

Riffy laughed.

"So, Riffy, back to the subject of cabins. If you're in Aries, you'll be in with my little brother Christopher. He's a lot like me, only less awesome and not as good-looking or smart."

Riffy laughed. "Well there's something every little sibling would like to hear." They both laughed.

Kezet considered going to sit with Christopher, but he still couldn't swallow enough pride to get up and go over there. Kezet wanted to meet other jocks. But all that changed when someone came to sit next to him. "Hello." Kezet greeted.

"Charlie, Orion cabin, and no I don't have any gum." Replied the teen curtly and quickly as if he already had rehearsed the FAQ in his head multiple times.

"Well then." Kezet sat up straighter. "You don't seem as into this as the younger campers."

"Well my mother told me this was a very serious camp. What did your mom tell you?"

Kezet shrugged. "Considering I didn't know I was going to camp until the night before, not very much."

Charlie shook his head, already writing Kezet off as immature and disorganized.

"I'm just looking forward to the sport of it. The whole constant activity kind of feel that the brochure gives really interests me. And besides, we're both in Orion together, so I'm sue eventually we'll find something in common."

"I'm a bit of a jock back at my high school so you won't find me hanging out with the dweebs or the goths." He pointed to very specific places on the bus. "So I'll need someone to hang out with I guess."

Another guy approached them and sat behind them. "Did I hear you mention sports?" He asked, uncharacteristically enthused. "And being in Orion cabin?"

Kezet nodded. "I'm Kezet and this is Charlie. Who might you be?"

"Aiden. Pleased to meet you. And honestly, I'm not usually pleased to meet anybody rather." He admitted. "But I can swear to you I can't go 24 hours without playing some sport or doing some kind of exercise."

Charlie gave Aiden a fist pound.

Kezet gave Aiden a handshake. "Then we're like brothers already!"

Meanwhile, over where Taylor was sitting, the conversation was just getting interesting. "But did you ACTUALLY kiss her?" Taylor asked Jack, grinning. "Did you actually kiss that girl?"

"Well…uh…" Jack was cruelly avoiding answering. He hated it when girls asked him about his first kiss.

Abby was laughing so hard she was curled up in a ball and her face was bright reddish pink.

"Breathe, Abby, BREATHE!" Riffy chortled. "C'mon, spit it out, Jack."

"Uhm…"

The cyclops ghost landed the bus and came to a halt. He switched on the PA system. This time the bus was in park. "Hello? Hello? Is this thing on…" It softly said. But a loud ringing of feedback got everybody's attention. The first few rows of students had to plug their ears. "Sorry, sorry! Okay, hello! Good afternoon, campers! Welcome to your first night at Camp Everstar! Now I'm sure everyone has read the brochure several times over and so there should be no question of which cabin you're in. Even if you did have questions, I've had a long day and I don't feel like answering them. Anyways, please make an orderly exit off the bus and to your cabins where you will dump your stuff. Cuz there isn't much time. Dinner starts in less than ten minutes! GO! GO! GO!" He shouted.

In a whirl, everybody stood up with their suitcases. Abby made good time getting to the exit. "Wait! Abby!" Taylor was trying to stick to her friends, but had already lost Jack and Riffy in the huge shuffle. A thought crossed her mind as some people brushed against her and left her arm wet and clammy. _Ew, I'm coated in goth simmer_, she thought.

Taylor was trying to keep an eye on Abby's red hoodie but she kept losing it. Eventually she made it off the bus and found Abby again.

"What did that Cyclops mean about cabins?" Taylor questioned honestly.

"Didn't you read your brochure?" Abby stared at her blankly.

"What brochure?!"

Abby sighed. "Here, just take mine. There's a map on the back if you need it." Abby had too much energy to just walk, so she ran, suitcase and all. "Meet you at dinner."

Taylor huffed in and out. Now she was all alone and had truly no idea of where to go. She would have panicked if she hadn't caught sight of somebody with the exact same pink and white striped handbag as her. "You have good taste." Taylor pointed.

"Oh this? Thanks." Grinned the girl. "I'm Lola."

"Tay—" Taylor met eyes with the girl, and her voice jerked. "…Lor."

Lola laughed. "What an interesting name! You look a lot like…like…my mother." She couldn't think of anything else to say, but it was true. "You comin' to Libra cabin?"

"Um, is that where you go if you're fourteen?"

"And a girl, yes." Lola said. "I'll lead the way."

There were approximately seventy campers total plus thirty staff members, so figure around a hundred people on the campgrounds. Taylor was expecting there to be more campers, actually. Everyone was complaining as they had to trudge through the cold, muddy grass for a quarter mile, in the dark. Taylor was wearing short shorts, but her gross ankles were the least of her worries right now. She threw her bags into the room, not even bothering to turn on the light. And then, like everyone else, she made her way to Northstar, the dining hall building.

Leo knew he had to work up the courage to introduce himself to at least ONE of his cabin mates before the night was over. It was weird goal for a weird kid. Leo had a face that might have been considered cute if it had not been hidden by glasses and a large beanie. Leo decided he would say hello to the first person he saw, and he was walking next to Jack. "Hello there." Leo was kind of hoping for a person less mainstream than alternative punk, but maybe this kid would end up being really cool. "I'm Leonard, but you can call me Leo."

"Shouldn't it be Lenny, not Leo?"

Leo shrugged. "I dunno…there's an "O" in there somewhere."

"Leo as in the celebrity Leonardo DiCaprio?"

"No, no. Leo as in the constellation." Leo pointed up. The sky was dark, but only one or two stars were out already. "See, my dad's an astronaut, and…never mind."

"Ah, its fine. I'm Jack. My real name's Jacob…but I go by Jack."

"I don't get it."

Jack smiled in agreement. "Neither do I." The two of them walked into Northstar together.

"Whoa!" Leo smiled in awe as he looked around. There were six large, long tables, wooden, but each painted the color of their cabin. Leo double checked this section of his brochure so he could double check his cabin's color.

• A – Orion Cabin – guys ages 16-17-18 – Blue

• B – Hydra Cabin – girls ages 16-17-18 – Red

• C – Virgo Cabin – guys ages 14-15 – Yellow

• D – Libra Cabin – girls ages 14-15 – Green

• E – Aries Cabin – guys ages 11-12-13 – Orange

• F – Pyxis Cabin – girls ages 11-12-13 – Purple

Leo followed Jack to Virgo's table.

"So much yellow." Jack said dramatically as he sat down. "It blinds my eyes!" He laughed, fakely rubbing his eyes as if they hurt. Leo sat to his left. On Jack's right sat a very emo kid with black hair that partially hung in the way of his violet eyes. He looked a few years older than his real age, actually. Jack studied him. "Wow, gee, I'm sorry you're in the yellow cabin. I'd fashion you as a black and purple sort of guy, like me, am I right?"

The stranger nodded slightly.

"I'm Jack."

"Jason." The kid said so softly that Jack was the only person who could hear.

Leo, being the clueless one, didn't even notice Jason. Because if these two so much as knew they were in the same universe, much less the same reality, the entire secret behind Camp Everstar would come undone. And then Clockwork would HAVE to confess the _real_ reason he invited, er, recruited these kids, so to speak.

"So, why are we just sitting here?" Jack asked Leo.

"Well," Leo stated precisely, "I followed YOU here. I have absolutely no idea where to get the food."

Jack made a face. "Me neither."

Leo scanned the room, analyzing its every corner and making note of the fact that it had two staircases and a balcony with some lounge chairs to sit and hang out up there. Leo also spotted the kitchen at the furthermost section of the large room. "I can hear 'em cooking away." Leo mentioned.

"Ah." Jack sniffed the air.

"Smells like thanksgiving." Leo replied. "And I meant the kind where you can't stop eating."

Several one-eyed ghosts resembling the bus driver came out in a line, floating of course, and wearing all black and white with the Camp Everstar logo (a gold capital "E" and a gold star) on their uniforms.

"Is it bad that those things creep me out?" Jack whispered to Leo.

Leo nodded. "I think you'll get used to them eventually."

"Why's that?"

"Because you'll probably be seeing them every time you need to get a meal, so I don't think you'll have a choice."

Jack laughed nervously, and it turned into a more complaining whimper.

The Cyclopes were carrying several food trays which each held many plates. Everybody got a plateful of food. There were steaming carrots, celery, corn, turkey strips and a drumstick, a little pile of stuffing, potato salad, green beans, and even two orange slices. Luckily everything came in teensy tiny portions or else there would be no way everyone could get all that food down.

"Wow." Leo's first thought was, "To get food this high quality must have cost a fortune!"

Jack scoffed. "Who cares? Just eat!"

Leo briefly glanced over to the table where the teachers, deans, counselors, and other staff members were sitting. All were one-eyed ghosts…it was getting to be rather unsettling and suddenly Jack's reaction didn't seem too far from what Leo was thinking. Leo was sure that several of the other campers were having similar thoughts. Of course there were little differences in the ghosts, such as some were taller, thinner, shorter, fatter, darker, and with a larger or smaller eye, but still the same general breed. Leo wondered at that.

One of the staff members, a dean, pushed over a podium and began reading off the names of who was in which cabins so there would be absolutely no room for confusion. It was brought to attention that Libra cabin was rather full to the point of extra bunks had been taken from both Hydra and Aries to compensate. But overflow was a good problem to have, as the dean mentioned.

* * *

**Don't forget to review ;) love you guys :P**


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

It was 7:30 and the Cyclops was still babbling, trying to sort out the whole who's who and who's in which dorm, because somebody had their birthday during the week and they didn't know which room they belonged in because they were enlisted for both.

In all, it ended up being around nine when the campers got sent to bed. But they had all that time to socialize and get to know their roommates which was always helpful. Now it all came down to a matter of who's who and who gets top bunk. To be specific, there were twelve beds in Virgo cabin, divided evenly amongst three bedrooms. There were two dressers per room.

Outside the bedrooms, there was a small fridge, a couch, a carpet, a sofa, a bookshelf, and a table for two, as was the layout of all six cabins. Everyone had had a pretty long day of riding in a bus for hours on end so they all pretty much went right to sleep without even unpacking. Thankfully, most of them were too tired to make a big deal of who slept where.

Leo still didn't know anybody in his dorm besides Jack. Sometimes cluelessness and innocence were good traits to have, but how long would it be before he found out the truth, and spread the news to others? _How long before Camp Everstar unraveled?_

Taylor brought a watch on the trip specifically for the purpose of having an alarm. It was on her wrist, so she couldn't ignore it. Luckily she was a morning person, so she woke up without a fuss. Taylor brushed her hair out of the way and eased herself off the bed, waiting for her feet to touch ground.

She hit ground alright, but a little later than she expected.

Taylor had forgotten she was on the top bunk.

"Owww…" She moaned sleepily, her hair now covering a large portion of her upper body. She stood up and looked around to make sure nobody had seen that. Then she walked down to the girls' washroom. Was it a little weird that thirty some girls were expected to share a washroom? Everyone was taking showers in turn, but there was a short line. Everyone was carrying their Camp Everstar official tees to change into.

Taylor held her towel. She was behind these two girls who were carrying red shirts. Taylor's was green. The girls were laughing and giggling, because one of them was holding a bag that contained somebody else's clothes. Taylor read the name tags on the shirts. Clara and Karissa, broth from Hydra cabin.

A girl came out of the shower, wrapped in a purple towel. "My clothes are gone! Who took my bag?" She frantically ran around looking for her bag. "Marisol!"

Marisol sighed and left the shower line to help her friend, Livia. "I think those two girls took it."

Livia marched over to them. "Give me back my clothes!"

"Take it easy, it was just a prank!" Clara said, handing Livia the bag.

"We were gonna give them to you after our showers were done." Karissa said.

Livia glared, changed, and waited for Marisol to be finished.

Taylor rolled her eyes as she stepped into the shower. She never liked girl drama much. She didn't understand why girls had to be so catty. That's why, if she could, she preferred hanging out with guys despite how girly and peppy she was. guys always took things easier and had a more realistic outlook on things.

Leo was one of the first down to breakfast. Dressed in his yellow Camp Everstar shirt, he sat at his table. Jack wasn't down yet, but two other guys were. One was Jason from last night and the other's name was Darry. Darry couldn't get over how funny it was that Jason was wearing yellow, because if he had a choice, he probably would have worn all shades of black.

"Hello!" Darry waved to Leo.

"You seem rather chipper, considering it's only 7:15." Leo mentioned. "I'm Le…" He got a splitting headache when he looked at Darry. He grunted in pain. "Ugh, sorry. I don't know what came over me for a second there. I'm Leo."

"Darry."

Jason muttered his name and slowly picked at the plate of food that was placed in front of him.

Leo's head throbbed when he looked at Jason too, but he didn't know why.

Eventually another guy came to their table. He had black hair, just like more than half the people here, but he seriously looked like trouble.

"Who's THAT?" Darry asked lousy, motioning to the kid who chose to sit alone.

Leo shrugged. He couldn't really take the kid as serious bad news because he was wearing the same yellow as everyone from Virgo cabin. Leo was beginning to think Virgo's color had been made yellow on purpose.

"I can hear you, ya know." Replied the loner, whose name was Dante.

Darry gasped loudly.

"You need to learn not to squeal." Said Jason.

As soon as 8:30 came, Leo, Jason, Darry, and Jack who caught up to them, all gathered in the main hall for announcements.

Another one-eyed ghost stood up at the front and adjusted the microphone on the podium. Behind him there was a banner advertising the logo of Camp Everstar. Even further back were these curtains which were such a deep, dark, velvety red that they looked black except for the area where the spotlight was shining on him. "Good morning, campers!" He waved.

There were scattered good morning replies from the audience. Leo shifted in his seat. The chair cushions were made of uncomfortable wool. The walls were very dark, because the campers were supposed to be focused on the ghost at the front.

The cyclops read off the schedule for the day and then the announcements. He nodded and that was the signal to dismiss the campers to their classes.

"Now, the high school has defense first." Leo mentioned as he and his friends walked. He pulled off his glasses and put them under his hat. Maybe now he'd look a little cooler and not have the more obvious geek image. While he was a geek, he was not awkward or creepy. He was actually a pretty cool kid, but his interests rested in the bizarre things like paranormal, extraterrestrial, and so on.

The walk to the training building was rather long. Darry kept rambling, occasionally referring back to the subject of there being 48 high schoolers. "If they stuff us all in one classroom, I'm gonna flip!"

Jason sighed. He just wanted this guy to put a cork in it already!

Leo held the door for his friends. "Oh look!" He pointed to a pack of girls sitting down. "There's my twin sister. Come on, you have to meet her."

"Not right now." Jason said. "We have to find a desk before they all get taken and we're stuck with weirdos." He picked one near the back, and Darry sat in the row in front of him.

Jack sat down beside Leo. "So…" He whispered, trying to look cool and subtle, "Do you see any hot girls around?" He asked, grinning.

"Hm," Leo thought hard, "I don't know how to say this, but…all the girls here remind me of my sister or are goth. And both are equally unappealing!"

Jack scoffed. "Yeah, I know! What is with me? None of these girls are my type! I haven't seen a single one! Although I'm pretty sure there WILL BE at least ONE. There has to be!"

Leo shook his head.

"I'll admit I didn't come here to learn or battle or anything. I came to prove to my sister that I'm stronger than her and also to meet a few girls, since I'm bored with the ones at my school."

A ghost appeared at the front of the room, motioning for everybody to come in and sit down. "I'll be your teacher today. We're gonna be going outside in the fields. There we'll split into a non-powered section and a powered section and we'll all practice defense together!"

Jack stood up. "Oh great, more walking."

Leo didn't mind the exercise. He stuffed his hats and glasses into his back pockets and walked into somebody. "Hey," He smiled, recognizing the hair, "Taylor, meet any cheerleader friends?"

The girl turned around in complete confusion. "What?"

Leo's face went beet red. That wasn't Taylor! The girl looked almost exactly like Leo's sister from the back—same shade of brown hair, same height, similar build—but Leo could see now that the ends of this girl's hair was black. "Wow! I'm a derp! I totally thought you were someone else, sorry."

"Ohhh!" Instantly her confused face turned to laughter. "I made the same mistake like six times today! Haha, I'm Lola."

"Leo." The guy smiled sweetly as they continued walking.

"I probably need glasses. Everybody is really starting to look alike to me." She shook her head.

Leo laughed. "No, it's not just you. I have glasses, see?" He pulled them out and showed her. "But still. A lot of people here happen to look alike. Have you noticed there are no blondes? And I've only seen one or two redheads? A couple of people have white hair, though, and it's a rare hair dye color. It might have even been the same kid, I dunno."

"Yeah, well blondes and redheads are…"

"Rare." The two of them said in unison and then laughed.

Jack caught up to Leo on the field. "Hm…who was THAT?" He raised his eyebrows deviously. "You like her?"

"No, no!" Leo assured his friend as he shielded his slightly sensitive eyes from the bright sunlight. "I bumped into her thinking she was my sister! Gosh, she, Taylor, and I could be triplets."

"Freaky." Jack mentioned. "But cool."

Everybody paired up and they were told to get into defensive poses. Leo knew he was going to lose to Jason, which was why he picked Darry as his partner.

"Wow!" Darry exclaimed. "I thought I'd be the last one picked for sure!"

Leo took the first move and lightly swiped at Darry with his arm.

Darry batted it away easily. "Oh come ON! Is that the best you can do?"

"Bring it!" Leo clenched his fists and his hands glowed green and his powers swirled around them.

Darry grinned as he spawned his own powers around his hands. "Now we're talkin'!" He prepared a shield.

Jack made sure he was on the girls' side so he got to meet somebody, hopefully. Her name was Jojo, and she was great at throwing blasts, but not averting them. Jack threw ectoblasts at her, but her shield was weak and it dissolved quickly.

Grunting in frustration, Jojo said something she probably shouldn't have.

Jack sighed. Still he hadn't met the right kind of girl.

Over on the human side of things, Aiden had been paired up with Brandi. From his considerable amount of training at home from mom and dad, Aiden was well ahead of Brandi. He could tell that this was probably her first ever experience with anything like this.

He could either finish her off really quickly, or…he could show her how it's done. "See, Brandi? Like this." He showed her an example of a good stance.

The next class was offense, and the times blurred right together with this class because it was in the same location. During offense, Aiden was pitted against this girl Karissa, who was a decent fighter but not above average talent.

Aiden had to admit that with every swish, dodge and punch, that he was starting to like offensive and defensive classes. The adrenaline seemed like it belonged in his blood—like it made him feel more alive. Maybe it was because he was a guy and a very physical kind of person, or maybe it was because fighting and defending was in his blood already.

"Hey you're pretty good." Karissa admitted, stopping to take a breath.

Aiden nodded, wiping the sweat off of his raven black hair.

"But that Brandi chick, she sucks." Karissa said with a laugh. "And she's a bit of a know-it-all."

"Ah." Aiden knew he was a know-it-all by a lot of his schoolmates' standards as well, but Camp Everstar was a place of new beginnings and fresh starts. He was going to carve a completely different self-image for himself here, even if it meant throwing somebody else under the bus to take his place there.


	6. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Precision class was next, and Lola had been scolded by the teacher because she had only been fighting Taylor the whole time. But that was because they treated each other as friendly competition and were both good sports. So Lola moved around and tried to find someone who she could make friends with as well.

Clara was…certainly a very different style than Lola, but Lola liked to try new things. "Hello!" Lola smiled politely.

"Hi." Clara was hard to get a read on, besides all the gothic attire.

The two began to duel and Lola knew to focus more on the accuracy of her movements more so than the actual blast. She ended up knocking Clara to her feet. Making the mistake that Clara was of the same skill level as her little sister Livia, Lola paused.

This was just the chance Clara needed to do a sweep of the leg and knock Lola down. Clara jumped up and blasted Lola when she was trying to get back up. Clara put her black and gray combat boot on Lola's back, signaling her victory. "Now, don't cry or anything, princess." Clara said. "Cuz people have a bad habit of doing that after I've beat them."

"Naw, I'm a good sport about it." Lola said.

"Really?" Clara's eyes widened as she helped Lola up.

"Yeah, totally." Lola smiled.

Now that the third class was over, it was time for all the exhausted teens to go to lunch. Making their way to Northstar building in the blazing hot sun was not exactly enjoyable for them.

Lola sat down next to Taylor, Abby, and Jojo. "I'm totally gonna take a shower after I eat!" Lola said quickly with a huff. "I'm all sweat…ew!"

Taylor shook her head. "I know, right? I'll probably take one too."

"Sweat's good for the soul." Jojo mentioned.

Abby and Taylor exchanged the same look and they knew exactly what the other was talking about. They didn't even notice this whole thinking in synch thing, but liked the way things were, regardless.

Dinner was over, and Lola was right about to go down to the washroom when she spotted the Aries table. Riffy would have stood out like a sore thumb, but it occurred to Lola that a lot of those guys looked alike. Riffy was sitting next to this kid with snow white hair. "Riffy!" Lola appeared at the foot of the table. "Hi!"

Riffy rolled his eyes and covered his face in embarrassment. "Oh no, look, it's my preppy sister." Last year when he and Lola were in junior high together, she would sometimes come to his lunch table to try and get to know his friends, but everybody would ask "who was that HOT girl", and he would have to explain she was his sister, and then they would try to cover up the awkwardness of lying by pretending they never really thought she was pretty. Riffy was astounded that nobody did it this time, and quite thankful.

"Hey how was class?" Lola asked.

"Greeeeat." Replied Riffy with his friend, Christopher, who waved slightly to Lola.

"Hi." She smiled in return.

"Now go away." Riffy shooed her.

Lola showered quickly, but still somehow ended up late for the field training class which started at 1:30. Maybe it was the hair-drying that cost her time. But Lola couldn't leave the bathroom without doing her hair! One could say it was part of her OCD. This class was an hour and a half, which was a half hour longer than the other classes. Lola had no idea what this class would be about, really, but she couldn't wait to get into it.

She joined the crowd of campers from Libra and hoped that the teacher wouldn't catch on that she was fifteen minutes late. "Jojo? Taylor? Where's one of the ghosts…?"

"Not here yet." Jojo stated, quick and to the point.

"Thank grace." Lola whispered softly.

Taylor looked around. Everyone was just standing here and mingling. She didn't see a single ghost. All throughout the day, adrenaline had been kicking in and working overtime in her little body, making her feel impatient and impulsive a little. "Let's just do this already…" She said in a slightly complaining way.

"The sky looks weird." Jason said quietly.

"Hey everybody, look at the sky!" Kezet pointed up.

Jason sighed, annoyed. "That's what I just said." He explained to Leo and Darry.

The sky turned a dark purple very quickly. Even the most oblivious and clueless of campers noticed by now. The talking died down. Lola did her best to look prepared, even though she was just a thin girl with pink ectoplasm. Nobody really took her as a serious threat. Maybe that's because she wasn't one. She wasn't even that pretty either—but most of the girls in her school happened to be ugly so that was why they considered her cute. To Lola, Camp Everstar would be about finding herself, her place, and her backbone. She had the desire to be the hero, but just hoping for a chance to be one wouldn't get her anywhere at all. Looking upwards, she was trying to identify and assess those little green specks in the sky.

"Ghost birds!" Kezet declared, being the first to share, "It looks like an attack!"

"Wow." Charlie said drolly and unimpressed. "Obviously the faculty released them to test our skills."

"Duh!" Darry said. "You didn't get that?"

Charlie stared at him. "I mean if the teachers released them, the birds must be under their control."

"But we've gotta stop them nevertheless." Kezet declared, looking fierce as he balled up his fists. He looked at his fellow campers and asked them, "Are ya with me or not?"

"I…I don't like birds!" Darry whimpered, putting on his blue goggles for protection.

The bright green fowls swished and swarmed overhead, launching all sorts of green goop.

"They're gonna destroy the field!" Brandi exclaimed.

"Well not just that, it's acidic." Kezet assessed. "Only slightly, but acid is still acid. Don't let it get you." Perhaps that wasn't the best way to put it because now the 40+ high school campers were in a panic.

Taylor wasn't going to let any bird get her down.

Several the campers, including Jojo, Lola, Jason, and Darry, changed into their ghost forms.

"Oh my gosh, other halfas!" Lola jumped up and down and into the air. "I didn't know there were any others besides me and my family!" She squealed.

"Me and my brother are halfas, both." Jojo stated. She started throwing ectoplasm at the birds, and feathers flew everywhere.

Lola found Jojo's "no mercy" tactic a little intimidating. Lola started kicking and grabbing the birds by their necks, throwing them into each other and then blasting them with pink ectoplasm. "This is fun!" She declared, happily realizing that she and the other halfas could fill this world with color. Usually, when she felt her opponent was stronger, she would back down. But not this time. It was time for a change. If her dad was here right now, watching, she was sure he would be proud. She wanted to give him a fight to be proud of.

Darry was flying around, being a little careless with where he threw his powers. He almost hit Jason several times. In fact it as so mint times that Jason glared at him whenever he looked at him.

Jason's strong point was precision and accuracy. He got several birds because almost every shot of his was dead on. And these things were barely sparrow size at best. But he didn't get as many as others.

Dante was convinced that Karissa was trying to attack him, so a fight broke out between the two of them instead of them trying to get the birds.

An irritated Clara had to try and pull them apart. Her best friend and brother really clashed from the beginning of camp and it had escalated all the way up to this. "Stop it, guys; we're supposed to be working together!"

"Oh brother." Taylor rolled her eyes. She was sending her dark blue blasts from the ground, because she didn't have the gift of being airborne like several of her friends.

Being faced with the constant threat of these mutant monster birds, Lola was really forced to realize how many flaws her fighting style had. She noticed how she always hesitated right before she was about to release a blast, so it was ever very powerful and rarely as effective. She didn't like her own indecisiveness, but it was a reflex.

She began to get more impatient as both of her calves began to ache. Maybe it was all that walking and she just needed a rest. And then she caught sight of it—acid. How could she let that happen?! Glowing green acid from what the birds had released was strewn in globs across her calves.

In a slight panic, her first instinct was to cry. She'd been faking it for years, but she was still a kid inside. But she was looked to as the oldest so people thought she should act a certain way. Truth be told, even Livia and Sasha were more mature than her sometimes. Lola looked up at the purple sky and watched it grow darker and fade into a gray.

It was getting bigger and bigger as she kept looking up. She didn't realize until she hit the ground that she had been falling and slowly losing consciousness. Luckily she was out completely before the pain hit her.

The slightly arrogant superpowered teen, Kezet, readied a red blast of radioactivity. He threw it at the birds. Their numbers were diminishing but the sky was getting greyer and that meant there would probably be rain and perhaps lighting. It would be testing to see how they would work under that stress.

"Good job, everybody." He found himself encouraging people, which he rarely did in real life. That's right, with each blast he released and each new person he would meet, this work seemed to get more and more surreal. It was like a second reality…almost.

Kezet saw out of the corner of his eye, a girl fall in a straight line from the sky. Lola landed cruelly in the grass and no one else even noticed. Rather, they were too preoccupied to help. Kezet sighed, because he knew he had to help her. He glided on runner's legs through the tricky, marshy grounds as the rain began to pour down.

Kezet bent over the unconscious teen and checked her vital signs. Rain drenched the clothes on his back and seeped to his skin easily. As he bent over, drips and droplets smeared across his face and his nose began to run. In a thunderclap, he hoisted her up. "I've gotta take her to the hospital!" Kezet told the next person he saw, who was a girl from Hydra named Owletta.

"Whaat?" Owletta yelled back. "I can't hear you over the-the-the _thunder_!"

Kezet sighed and just kept moving on. By the time he got to the staff building where the deans and faculty slept and worked, it was long after 3:00 and so the final class of the day was over. Kezet left the injured teen in the care of the ghosts, and then went back outside to be judged as a pass or failure like the rest of his classmates.

The teacher had everyone line up straight and tall in the pouring rain. That judgmental one-eyed creature paced back and forth down the line. "I caught a better performance from the middle schoolers today." He stated unforgivingly. "You all could have done better. Rain, sleet, or snow, you guys need to keep fighting! Don't ever give up! Some of you were focused more on each other and fighting amongst yourselves than you were on the life-threatening birds. If you had been looking out for each other and working as one great big team, you might not have so many injured." There was a dean standing next to him, and he asked him, "How many injured campers reported?"

"Twenty-one, last time I checked, sir." Replied the dean.

The teacher nodded. He did up his green cape and pulled the hood over his head. "I'll expect much better from you tomorrow." He stated. "DISMISSED!"

Kezet flinched at the ghost's yelling. The radioactive teen thought this was all a bit unfair. In his mind, he was always right, because he had an accurate an unbiased view on everything. At least, that's what he thought.

* * *

**Keep reviewing, guys :D reviews make meh happy **


	7. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

"I think the teacher was a little too harsh." Aiden stated on the walk back. "We were all just doing the best we can."

Kezet certainly didn't want to hear it from this guy. "You? You're really complaining about fairness right now? Huh! YOU were the one just standing around! How many birds did you take out of the game, eh? How many birds did you kill?"

Aiden shook his head. "You're missing my point."

"And you just don't want to admit that you didn't get any. Aren't I right?" Kezet said in a cocky tone.

Aiden frowned. "Ohhh…pardon me for being…HUMAN!"

"Being human's got nothing to do with it. You're just lazy. You want to let everyone else do the hard work."

"Lazy, huh? I'd like to see how you'd go in a fight like that without powers!" They had reached the building now and Aiden was holding the door open to let the other people in. "And for your information, not that it's any of your business anyways, but, two. _I killed two_." He went inside and closed the door in Kezet's face.

_So much for free time_, Aiden thought, because there was going to be none now. With the thunderstorm, the most they could do was hang out in Northstar. It was quite boring, waiting for time to pass and something new to occur.

As Marisol sat down at the purple table, she was accompanied by a posse. Several of the middle school girls were very tough, kick-butt kind of chicks whose spirit Marisol admired. On the other hand, Marisol also appreciated the more feminine side of the universe, AKA, Livia, Sasha, and the other future-cheerleader types, since that's the image she wanted to have once she was in high school. Marisol was considering competitive cheerleading as a high school extra-curricular, but she was torn between that and sports, since she probably couldn't handle both because her chubby body wasn't in that great shape.

Livia bit into her meat sandwich and laughed at some of the girls on the other side of the table who were vegetarians and complaining about the meat in the sandwiches.

Sasha pointed tauntingly. "Look, I think one of them swallowed meat! Ooh, go call an ambulance!" She said with sarcasm.

Livia and Sasha laughed the same laugh, and it sounded like one.

"Livia? Sasha?" Marisol asked, "Do you notice the fact that all the high schoolers are all wet and muddy?"

The identical twins looked over. "Wow, they need to clean up!"

Earlier Marisol had heard a rumor that there was going to be a high school cheerleading extra-curricular starting later in the week during the same time the guys had their sports. Marisol was hoping to sneak in, but was the idea too much of a stretch?

It was almost campfire time, and Leo had gotten to know more of the people at his table. One of them, Skandar, was becoming a really popular guy. Suddenly a lot of people wanted to talk to him out of nowhere. Leo didn't even remember seeing him on the bus ride so he must have come in later. Leo was curious about the fellow, though. Everyone waked out back behind Northstar and gathered around this huge bonfire. Leo and his friends took seats on the logs.

Skandar laughed really hard at something Jack said and Leo was beginning to find them really loud and annoying. "Hey, what's so funny, guys?"

"Skandar's gonna ask some girl out!" Jack said proudly. "Go on, go do it." He encouraged.

Skandar stood up, then went right back down. "I can't do it, man…" A grin appeared on his face.

Jack laughed and lightly punched him in the arm. "I knew you couldn't!"

Leo shook his head in disappointment. They were totally missing the point of camp. It wasn't to hook up...it was to learn.

A staff member emerged, and introduced some of the girls from Hydra cabin who had volunteered for tonight's activity.

"Are you ready to dance?" Brandi asked drolly.

"Because tonight, we're gonna show you some moves that are gonna BLOW YOUR MIND!" Owletta, Brandi's younger sister by a year and a half, said.

Instantly, the girls did a corny pose with jazz hands as music began to play. Teenagers began to cheer, stand up, and wood in general. Leo wasn't into dance but his sisters were. Between the stereo blasting old songs like "Are you ready for this" and eventually, "The Interlude", Leo decided to distance himself from the party a bit.

Livia was dancing around in circles, around the edge, because it was too packed for her to slither her way into the center. She saw Leo all by himself and jogged over there. "Hey there you. Why are you standing out here all by yourself? You don't look like…_them_."

Leo followed the younger girl's gaze over to a group of goths from Hydra who were hanging out under a tree. Leo shook his head. "You know what, I'm not." He stated.

"There's a lot of goth people here, have you noticed?"

Leo shrugged. "Not really."

"Everyone's in very well-defined cliques, even more defined than high school. the style differences are so obvious."

"I suppose so."

"So why don't you dance? Come on, it'll be fun. My sister says it's my "outlet"." She took his wrist. "Although I know singing is my real outlet."

Leo smiled. He wanted to please the child, so he went back into the crowd and danced out his best, which actually pretty good. Dancing was something he only did when he was sure no one else was around and he was really feeling the jive. But for once, he felt comfortable letting it go in front of others, because they were all focused on themselves and their friends anyways.

Lola woke up late into the night, in the hospital still. Slightly upset that she had missed her first campfire, she decided to shrug it off and walk back to her cabin. As she carried her purse across the wet dark ground in the night, she felt like she was walking through a dream—that's how tired she was, and how foggy this was getting. Her legs were all tended though, but her body DID feel a little numb.

It took her awhile to notice that she sprinklers were going off. She then skidded across the grass, squishing the mud through her feet and running up to the cabin door all soaking wet. She closed it gently.

"Hey! Who is that?" Asked a voice.

Lola read the nametag on the shirt. "Clara" and the shirt was red. _Oh no_, Lola thought in fear. She accidentally went into Hydra! The girly-girl was too scared to say anything else, so she just ran out…very quickly. Scared and tired, she didn't even bother to change to pajamas before retiring to bed. She just wanted to forget that unfortunate incident and hope no goths would make fun of her for it later.

For Aiden, after the first day, the next few days began to blur together as time rolled on. First day was always separate from the rest. The time when first impressions had been loose in had passed and everyone's opinions of everyone else had already set in. It was like high school all over again, only accelerated in the development of the social structures. Aiden and Kezet went back to being friends, and them, with Charlie, were the jocks that roe to the top of the athletics in Camp Everstar. All seemed good, though alas, not for long. With popularity there always came some sort of problem.

"She's watching you again." Charlie mentioned during his and Aiden's spar in precision class. That's right, today those with powers were allowed to spar those without. The Cyclopes thought the campers were ready for that challenge now, but not all the humans would agree.

Aiden sighed. "You know, this is getting really annoying, that girl from Hydra cabin." He mentioned to his friends, referring to his very own stalker.

"_Tell_ me about it! I had hoped there'd be more hot girls in Hydra, but there's like, none at all." Kezet mentioned, briefly forgetting Vanessa back home, and then feeling guilty about it for a moment. "So do you even know her name?"

Aiden shook his head. "And I don't care to."

Owletta had been watching the athletic boys over her shoulder and she had her eyes on Aiden. She was a sporty girl herself, and she admired guys who were jocks. She and Brandi had been stalking Aiden together for a while.

Aiden was easily annoyed. He was mentally kicking himself for being polite to Brandi on the bus. Now she and the other girl had this thing for him and his jock friends. At times, Aiden thought he had inherited all the bad luck in the family. No matter what he had success in from grades to sports, his life still…sucked.

Owletta poked Aiden from behind. "Spar with me." Those were her first words spoken to him.

He groaned. He couldn't refuse.

"HA HA!" Charlie chuckled and he and Kezet made a breakaway. "Good luck!" And they disappeared.

Aiden really had no choice but to accept, though he didn't want to. He hoped he would have the pleasure of kicking her butt in battle, though. Maybe then she'd finally get the idea that he wasn't interested.

There was no class Riffy found more boring than the second period, which was beginners training. Because Riffy hadn't been a beginner since he was seven or eight. Surrounded by low expectations, he felt like he had to sell himself short a bit even because he should probably be in advanced classes.

Riffy almost fell asleep listening to the one-eyed ghost ramble on about things he had learned as a child. Beside Riffy on his right was his friend Rolo, and to his left was Christopher. Rolo seemed excited and happy to learn these things. Clearly he hadn't been taught them before. Christopher seemed quiet and controlled and was hard to read. Riffy couldn't tell what skill level he was yet.

Moving onto the teamwork class, today's activity involved a field trip to the famous "collapsing caves". Riffy knew that Camp Everstar took place somewhere in the realm of Iglacia, the crystal Glacian realm, after it had been restored. So the caves were probably lined and laced conveniently with lavender crystals that had grown in since the realm's collapsing.

Riffy elbowed Rolo and Christopher as they were walking along. "How much you wanna bet the cave's gonna collapse in on us?"

"Well," Rolo pointed out, "Considering that the caves have just recently been restored from their collapsing state, I believe that is highly unlike—"

Riffy covered the twelve-year-old kid's mouth. "I was just kidding." He said jokingly. "Stop being such a know-it-all." He then released the kid's moth.

Rolo was slightly annoyed. The other boys from his cabin just didn't respect his intellect and wisdom in this situation, that's all. They lacked both the maturity and the intelligence to understand his wit.

Rolo's face went red as he saw Livia looking at him. He kind of had a little teensy weensy crush on her, and he was embarrassed that she saw Riffy cover his mouth. Eisa, a very odd young guy, mentioned something about Riffy's theory being a high possibility, and that was where Riffy face-palmed and muttered, "Ugh, can't any of you guys take a joke…" There was a lot more walking involved in this camp than he would have liked. He was starting to get bored. "Eh, Christopher, you've been rather silent." Riffy stated. "What are you thinking about?"

Christopher shrugged.

"You mad?"

"No." Christopher shook his head. "Not mad. I just have this weird feeling. These teachers, they're of a species of ghosts called Observants. And their leader, their voice, probably the person running this camp is a ghost named Clockwork…he's the Time Master. I work for him. Sorta…"

Riffy had no clue what this kid was talking about but he nodded in agreement as if he was on the same page. "Okay, okay." He stated. "That's nice."

Christopher sighed. "I know Clockwork is here though…it's like I can feel his presence…even though I can't see him…" He looked up at the sky and stared dramatically.

_The weirdo_, Riffy thought, _every camp has one_. He and the line of other students made their way up ahead, and Riffy studied the walls as they entered the caves. No crystals? The blackness was getting darker, and the mineral scent was quite erratic. It made him dizzy a little. It was like breathing in thick dust only without the itchiness.

Riffy noticed someone holding the hands of the young blind teen, Anette. He rolled his eyes. _That kid didn't belong here if she couldn't see_, he thought. With an observant leading the way, he asked all the campers to join hands as they walked into complete and total darkness.

Riffy stood in between two girls, Marisol and Livia on Livia's other side was Rolo, who was eagerly awaiting his big chance. Christopher was lagging far, far behind, unfortunately separated from Riffy.


	8. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

"Oh m'gosh. I HATE the dark!" Said a girl named Kaitlyn. As if possible, it was getting darker.

Two of Marisol's friends, twin sisters named Angel and Alison, sniggered at Kaitlyn, which only made her even more upset.

Riffy knew he had to find other friends because none of these people had his taste and they were all weird, boring, or girls. Who was left? That Caleb kid? No! _He_ would be Riffy's last resort.

"There is a chemical imbalance in the air, I can TASTE IT."

"Shut up, Rolo." Angel said. "Who cares about science?"

Rolo sighed. He was rather unappreciated in his own time, sadly to say.

"And over here, if you run your hand slightly along the caves, you will feel the vacancies where the crystals used to grow and thrive." Stated the one-eyed teacher. "The Glacian crystals fed off the rocks and soil, but eventually they had sucked it all up. Soil from the human realm didn't have the nutrients that the Glacian realm had, so it wasn't able to support the Glacians for more than a few hundred years. The realm has been restored, but the crystals have long since been gone. They are entirely extinct, except for in the lifeblood of the Glacian species."

Riffy ran his fingers along the stone as everyone else broke from the chain of linked arms and hands. He felt the soil decaying like clay, dying as if it had once been alive. He shuddered in disgust. He was pretty sure he heard Angel dare Caleb to eat some. Riffy rolled his eyes, knowing Caleb would do it.

"Our mission here is to assist the miners and help break down the weaker soil and discard it." The teacher announced. "In other words, physical labor…for those who don't have powers of course. For those that do, this'll be a piece of cake."

"I knew it!" Bellowed Amy, Caleb's little sister, suddenly. If there had been any light, everyone would have seen those around her flinch because of her sheer volume. "I knew there would eventually be discrimination! It's only the fourth day of camp and already humans have it harder than…_them_!"

"Calm down!" Caleb whispered to his rabid little sister.

"Whoo." Marisol whistled in amusement. "_Someone's_ got a temper!"

The group followed the faint light coming from behind several rocks. The way up was steep with no stairs and no railing. Those with flip flops were complaining of gravelly feet. It took the strengths of almost all of them to move the rocks aside so they could get into the dimly lit mining area. There were only four miners here, three of which were extremely obese and the fourth was an older teen, definitely a college student.

"Ooh, he's cute!" Sasha voiced, followed up by an echo of giggles from Livia and Kaitlyn.

"Follow me this way, please." Stated one of the obese adults. She was a very broad, but husky woman with both muscle and fat; not the type any rebellious junior higher would want to cross. The teacher stepped aside with the man and the other woman. "My sister, my husband, and my son and I are the owners of this place. Here's where we keep the shovels." She pointed to a pit filled with about ten of them. "Everyone, grab a shovel. When those run out, use your hands." She sounded rather rude and for sure unhappy.

"Glad I have powers." Riffy said to Christopher.

Grumpy Gale and Amy, two humans who were bitter about being so, refused to dig and were scolded repeatedly for it. Gale explained how he thought a lot of this was unfair, and how he was happy before coming here because he didn't even know about the existence of powers before camp and was seemingly from the only family like so.

Riffy sent several electric shocks at the solid rock wall. Feeling a quake beneath his feet, he wondered if they'd start an avalanche. Sweaty hour after hour they toiled, until everyone unanimously agreed this was enough. Thank goodness they had gotten out of their other classes or else the rest of the day would have been exhausting. Returning to Camp Everstar to a nice hot meal was rather appeasing after such hard work.

Riffy couldn't believe he was stuck doing chores for other people when he wanted to be out _there_ in the world taking down bad guys. The Cyclopes mentioned that all heroes had to start somewhere. Though Riffy's muscles were sore, they were going to be much stronger after today and hopefully prove well the next time he was in battle. He couldn't help but wonder, though, what in the WORLD the goal was here. One moment he thought he had Camp Everstar figured out, and the next…he was as lost as Eisa in the middle of one of his own sentences.

Meanwhile, that night over in Hydra cabin, Lola came over to check up on her older sister Juliette. The two of them were close and Lola used to idolize Juliette when they were younger. Since Juliette was with her, Lola was allowed to enter. Lola was glad nobody brought up her accidental entering of this cabin that one night.

Lola and Juliette sat on the floor up against the wall and quietly talked about their experiences, just like sisters did. "I kind of feel out of place here." Juliette admitted. "I expected there to be more girls here like me, you know, cheerleader types. But we've got the same divisions here as any other cabin—goth, athlete, and nerd. I hope you've had better luck at your cabin."

"I have!" Lola smiled. "I met this really cool girl Taylor who did cheer at her high school. We're totally meant to be best friends. I'm really hoping we can still hang out after Camp Everstar is over."

"That's great." Juliette smiled.

The next morning, in classes, Juliette trained all the more harder. She didn't need acceptance here to do well. She had a family who loved her and that was all that should matter. Besides, she was a popularity superstar back at her own high school. She impressed both Jayden and Caylen—Caylen was another athlete and Jayden was a flirt—and expected Jayden to start hitting on her but he didn't. Despite the rumor going around that he was a flirt, she hadn't seen him flirt with one guy since he got here.

After the morning classes were over, Juliette checked on Kobi just like every day. He smiled up at her with those gleaming eyes, grateful to her for kindly taking care of him. "Hey Kobi, how was your day today?" She asked in a friendly way as she walked with him to lunch. He rarely walked, but rather, just smiled. She knew he liked it when she talked to him as if he could carry on a conversation, thought he couldn't. "The Cyclopes have been taking good care of you, right? Is there anything you need?" She asked as she helped him get seated at his table.

Suddenly, Kobi's gleaming face turned serious. "Um…no…they…overheard…um…some…" He stumbled for words whenever he tried to say too much. "Um…complications…fear…" When at a loss for knowing just what to say, he would try to describe it by mentioning whatever words he could recall. "Dark…worth training…"

Juliette stared at him in concern and confusion. "I'm sorry, I don't know what you mean, Kobi."

He sighed and gave up, hanging his head low as he silently sat.

"What is it, Kobi?" Juliette lingered for a while more before retreating to her own table. When he said nothing, she left, and went to the head where she sat across from nerdy Brandi and a shy, timid girl named Maxx.

During free time later on, sports games went on and this time Juliette and Lola joined in instead of cheering on the sides. They failed miserably, but had a fun time in doing it. They ended up flat on the soccer field, just laughing together. Juliette mentally face-palmed for totally missing the whole point of Camp Everstar, which was apparently to have fun, though it was all up for interpretation in the eyes of each camper. Regardless, Juliette was determined to enjoy the rest of her time here, though it was slipping away quickly and quietly and would be over before she knew it.

Meanwhile, Leo was not the best at these camp classes, but what he was good at was getting lucky, which made it seem like he knew what he was doing. Even without his glasses, he was excelling in classes because he took them seriously and enjoyed getting better whereas multiple other pupils seemed to want to just be in it for goofing off.

"There has been improvement in all of you since the beginning, some more rapid than others," The teacher of the field training class mentioned happily, "And I am proud."

Leo, Darry, and Jason were becoming best friends here. Jack sometimes hung out with them. What Darry was worried about though, more than failing, was creepy Dante. Dante looked evil and unstable. While Darry was goth in style, he tended to freak out a lot, and wasn't calm and collected like the other goths at Camp Everstar.

This day's field training exercise was a virtual video game accessible to the high school level students only. This event combined all powered and non-powered campers and it would run into free time a little, but the teachers mentioned that they didn't think any of the campers would mind it.

The campers took a little walk outside as a group to a building off-campus which looked a lot like a laser tag arena. Only there was nobody inside because the Cyclopes had to use a special key to unlock it. Everything about this activity seemed suspicious, and that's exactly why Leo had already pre-determined that he would like it.

There were no windows to the outside. Once the lights were turned on, the place could be seen. It was mysterious with black-lighting and black walls and was much like a maze. The hushed whispers of all the high schoolers were loud because they were many. Everyone was trying to be the first to analyze the situation and predict the outcome, but the destination the Cyclopes had them stop at was one nobody could predict.

Once everyone was all gathered in the center of the maze, the teacher Cyclops and the other Cyclops who had the keys unveiled a great pale blue metallic circle that hung on the wall. "This is not a ghost portal." The second ghost said. "I repeat, this is not a ghost portal." His voice was dull and routine. "It will not lead you anywhere but a virtual game world created by ghosts and made for ghosts' study programs. What is on the other side of the portal, you wonder?" He flipped a light switch and there was a large room there, separated only by a wall where the portal was. "See? It's nothing. But once you enter the portal you will begin the game. Your mind will thrive in the virtual world, but your body will stay here in this room."

"Now," Said the other cyclops, "This game's purpose is for the ghost schools to help train them to fight. And you all are going to be the betas. We will come inside the game to tell you to log you out at the appropriate time. However if you want to log out before then, just click the option on your menu and you will wake up outside the portal. Now then, who will be the first to try Salem Sword 13?"

There was a moment of silence, and then more than half the teenagers sprang forth in excited clamor. The Cyclopes ghosts laughed amusedly and ushered the teenagers through the portal one by one. Leo was in one of the first groups through. Taylor was near last. Contrary to mainstream opinion, Taylor was not a gamer, and nor was she excited about this activity. Lola shared that opinion.

Leo stepped through and found himself in a virtual medieval type world. It seemed to be occupied only by adult NPCs and not any other players, which meant they would have free reign. Everyone was talking all at once as the last members of the high school came though the portal and it closed. The first thing most of the campers did was split up into teams and run off. It was obvious who were the more experienced gamers based on how quickly they ran away.


End file.
